‘International Role of the Director and Board’ Course Offered by IoD

15 Sep 2025 - 16 Sep 2025

Start, or continue, your journey to become a chartered director with the IoD ‘International Role of the Director and Board’ course

British Chamber of Commerce Shanghai cordially invites you to attend the two-day ‘International Role of the Director and the Board’ (IRDB) course, delivered by the Institute of Directors (IoD) on 15-16 September, each day from 9 am to 5 pm at the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

The Institute of Directors (IoD) was founded in 1903 in London and within three years we were awarded a Royal Charter to support, represent and set standards for business leaders nationwide. We are the oldest business membership organisation in the world, and we have about 20,000 members, including over 3,000 international members. We are also the only organisation that awards ‘Chartered Directors’ qualification across the world.

Delivering an essential understanding of the board’s role in corporate governance and risk management, this introduction to the duties and legal responsibilities of a director will enable you to tackle the challenges of the boardroom with fresh confidence and progress your career to the next level.

By attending this course, you will have the confidence to:

Recognise the key duties, roles and legal responsibilities of a modern director.
Understand the essential differences between direction, management and ownership.
Examine the board’s role in corporate governance and learn how to improve board effectiveness.
Understand the legal status of a company and other organisations and implications of the liabilities of directors in major jurisdictions including the UK and China.

IRDB is one of the four modules of the Certification in Company Direction Qualification provided by the IoD.

Janhavi Dadarkar CDir

Business experience
Janhavi is the Programme Lead for IoD’s flagship governance
courses, a Chartered Director, an Advisory Board member of the
IoD’s Centre for Corporate Governance and holds the accolade of
having been the youngest member of IoD’s Board of Examiners. Janhavi’s broad career as a corporate lawyer and equity partner in the City followed by her own ventures which she successfully built, restructured and exited means she has that rare combination of academic and legal rigour in UK and international governance regimes combined with the mindset and practical experience that makes her an ideal thinking partner for any board. Janhavi currently is the CEO of Maiora International, a boutique advisory firm that boasts an eclectic client list from private equity firms, charities, governmental and supra-national organisations to film studios, famous personalities and enterprising families and individuals. Committed to learning, honing her skills and keeping touch with the real challenges that board have, she continues to hold portfolio of board roles including as an Independent Chair on the board of a technology company, a board member on an Indo-European think tank and adviser to boards of a national student organisation and a local authority trading company.

Professional credentials and training experience
As programme lead, Janhavi has led the syllabus review and programme curation for the current Role of the Director and Board and International Role of the Board programmes and wrote three chapters of the handbook which is widely accredited as being both a training manual but also a practical guide for businesses and organisations. She is also a course leader for the Role of the Chair, Role of the Non-Executive Director and Leadership for Directors modules. In addition to her own client at the IoD Janhavi works with boards and individuals from a variety of sectors and organisational types including UKGI, Royal College of Defence Studies, the Boardroom Africa, EY, CIMA, Accord healthcare, the FA, CFA Institute, British Medical Journal, Towers Willis Watson, Smartest Energy, Shell Ventures and family companies that may be less well known but successful in their own right. Janhavi’s breadth of experience and facilitation style means she is equally comfortable with the highest ranking military officers and individuals at the highest levels of government to new, young and aspiring directors.

For attendees who want to join the course, please register your interest with BritCham Shanghai by clicking ‘Register your interest’ buttons on the top and bottom of the webpage.

The Chamber staff will check your details and connect you with a dedicated IoD staff, who will then guide you through the enrollment and complete your payment.

The standard tuition fee for course training is GBP 3,250 for IoD members, and GBP 3,750 for Non IoD members.

This course may be booked as standalone module or taken as part of the full qualification. Exam preparation and exam fees (first attempt only) are included.

For BritCham Shanghai Members, upon successful sign-up, you will receive 1-years international IoD membership included in the course package

After 20 years of practical experience working for and serving on several boards, it was great to finally sit through a formal course that explained the theory, common practices, as well as regulatory and legal context of how directors and their boards should operate.

I can wholeheartedly recommend the programme for both aspiring and veteran board members.

Adam Dunnett

Secretary General, European Union Chamber and Commerce in China

It was great to join the ‘Finance for Non-Finance Directors’ training delivered by the IoD. Guided by the really professional and experienced IoD trainer who has been on the board for many big international companies herself, I found the training extremely thought provoking and helpful for both my daily work and mid/long-term career development. It enabled me to look at finance information from a totally new and more strategic angle… The course is very well structured and tailored for directors like me who is not specialised in accounting or finance but would really need to know how to make critical decisions based on finance analysis.

Jing Liu

Deputy Director, Education, Skills, Creative, Retail and Sports (China) | Department for Business and Trade (DBT) |British Embassy |China

I highly recommend the ‘International Role of the Director and Board’ course. It helped me to refresh, consolidate and expand my knowledge and provided me with practical knowledge essential for my role.

The course materials were comprehensive and designed to reflect real-world scenarios. This enhanced my understanding of the concepts and how they are applied in practice. Paul Munden’s expertise as a commercial law barrister and his experience in chairing and working with boards of different types of organisation also brought an invaluable dimension to the course. His ability to blend strong technical knowledge with experience of the practical application of the concepts made the learning experience both engaging and highly relevant.

The course is a must-attend for anyone aspiring to or currently serving on a board, seeking to deepen their understanding and enhance their effectiveness.

Vaughn Barber

Chair, China-Australian Chamber of Commerce

As an over 2-decade finance professional, the Finance for Non-finance Professional Director course actually brought me quite some refreshed views to my finance practice and reminded me of some knowledge gone over time. I would like to encourage senior managers of all background to participate in the course to benefit not only from the course itself, but also from the instructor and peers with diverse experience.

Jiang Wu

Country Head, UK Export Finance | British Embassy |China

While I have been a member of and supported a number of boards in my career, I have never done this from the position of legal knowledge or best practice. Good and effective governance is so fundamental for organizational success as well as for regulatory compliance. The course was a great opportunity to strengthen my knowledge, spend some time with others from different industries and reflect on operating within the context of China.

The IoD International Role of Director course is a great stepping stone component into the other three courses to become a chartered director which I now aim to pursue too.

James Birkett

Registrar, University of Nottingham

Ningbo China (UNNC)

As a director focused on governance, this IoD program proved very valuable. Discussing challenges frankly with fellow board members from diverse industries sharpened my skills. Key learnings centred on risk oversight, compliance practices, and ensuring transparency and accountability as regulations rapidly change. Modules reinforced governance fundamentals that protect shareholders regardless of scale. The international with China-specific insights allowed me to continually strengthen governance knowledge benefiting my companies.

Mirko Turrina

GM, Goglio (Tianjin) Packaging Co. Ltd

The British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

香港英商会

Room 1201, Emperor Group Centre,
288 Hennessy Road, WanChai, Hong Kong

香港湾仔轩尼诗道288号英皇集团中心1201室

Platinum & Associate Platinum Members

BritCham Shanghai is an organisation proudly run by its members — for its members. Whether your business is based in China or overseas, we welcome you to be part of our community. Let's connect, and become a member today.